Separated
by Legna the Sorcerer
Summary: Inspired from a short story I wrote from that 10 Story Challenge: The Violet Mage Guild and the Silver Cross Assassins want nothing to do with each other due to an event. Arme, however, is the new head of the Violet Mage Guild, which is a problem.


**Author's Note**: Copy and paste from dA with editting: I dunno about this, but I kinda wanted to do something like this after writing the short one in the 10 Story Challenge. Wrote this whole thing at college, too. Sorry if things seem weird and possibly inconsistent. I feel that I _still_ haven't gotten the feel of writing yet. But I _am_ trying!

Do note that this story would be like "with" Tales of Change, which means Mari and Dio are NOT in it.

* * *

The head of the Violet Mage Guild is known as one of the strongest Battle Mages ever. In this case, it was Arme.

Arme was known as a magical prodigy; she was admitted into the guild at a young age, and mastered both black, destructive magics and white, healing magics. Not satisfied with her current knowledge, Arme joined a then-unknown group that was known as Grand Chase so she could find and then study the powerful magic of the Queen of Darkness, Kaze'aze.

The knowledge Arme gained was magnificent, and she put it to good use to defeat the monsters that planned to invade her homeland of Bermesiah. Arme went on to become one of the most powerful Battle Mages ever known, and after the defeat of the Ascendant God, Thanatos, Arme became the head of the Violet Mage Guild.

However, shortly after she became the head, there was a disagreement between the Violet Mage Guild and the Silver Cross Assassins. After that, the two groups declared that they would have nothing to do with each other. Amongst the two groups, it was considered a great shame to be affiliated in any way with a member of the opposite group. That means all relationships dissolved. All except one, that is.

Arme glanced outside at the clear, blue sky. There were a few birds flying overhead, cawing to their mates as they flew. A couple raccoons nearby seemed to be playing with some large leaves from a bush that a young mage had grown. In the background, there were various cries of various spells being used and summoned.

Sighing, Arme turned and went inside the building and began to climb the stone steps. Each step felt heavy as Arme headed to the head mage's room where all her work was in. Being the head of the Violet Mage Guild wasn't easy, and it was sometimes boring, but Arme had accepted it. She was even excited at first, but with each passing month, the responsibilities pressed down heavily on the young Battle Mage's shoulders.

First, there was a planned invasion by some unknown force that, with Arme's quick thinking, was dispelled quickly with a small group of very powerful mages. Then came another invasion, this time from within Serdin that was quickly put down. Then countless other problems arose, and it felt as if there was no end to them. Then came the problem that made Arme wish had never happened; the disagreement with the Silver Cross Assassins.

It had happened two years ago, and Arme had all but forgotten what the disagreement was about. Something stupid, no doubt. But because of that, Arme was heartbroken. Heartbroken because her lover was the leader of the Silver Cross Assassins, and it was considered shameful, even disrepectful, to talk to someone from the Silver Cross Assassins, must less be in _love_ with one!

"If I can't do anything about this _rivalry_ between our groups, what good is it to be the head of this group?" Arme muttered to herself. The "rivalry", Arme preferred to refer the disagreement as, had happened between numerous members of both groups, and the leaders had no idea that such a thing was happening somehow.

Secretly, every day, Arme blamed the members of the Violet Mage Guild, but at the same time, she reasoned with herself, it would technically be her fault that such a thing had gone unnoticed until it had grown too big a problem to fix. Now Arme could never see her lover, Lass, again. At least, not publicly.

Every month, just once a month to lessen the chances of being found, Arme met Lass in a secret location in Kanavan. It was risky business, having to go away from their duties for too long, so Arme and Lass simply met for a few hours at a time before parting again. They both despised it, but it was better to be safe than found out. Human pride was a fickle thing, but the two valued it.

Sitting down at her desk, Arme began to work on some of the paperwork that littered her desk. Most of it included organization, plans, and other stuff Arme had to do as the head of the Violet Mage's Guild. It wasn't like Arme could just dump it all on someone else and let them do it for her, though it was tempting.

Arme worked listlessly for a few minutes before she shoved the papers off her desk. The papers fell with a heavy thump, and Arme wasn't sorry for the poor mage who would have to clean it up.

_Why do they even bother to organize this room anymore?_ Arme thought. _I'll just do this again, and again, and again_.

Picking up a quill and a clean sheet of paper, Arme began to write. Every once in awhile, she would cross out a word and write a new one in its place, sometimes rewriting a whole sentence.

It took her about half an hour, but Arme was finally finished with the letter she wrote.

"_Dear Lass,_

_I'm afraid I cannot meet you this month at our destined location. I really wish I could, but there have been rumors that the Ascendant God is on the rise once more. Who knows where or even how he found the strength, but he's coming back, and the Violet Mage Guild (and others that we could enlist to help) has been requested to put him down before he becomes too big a threat to Bermesiah._

_According to numerous mages, including myself, if we do not put Thanatos down this time, and for good, one of the rumored Days of Destruction that was written in that ancient book will come to pass. Do you remember when I showed you that, love?_

'The fallen god will rise again

Bringing down the heaven

And raise the earth

To create death'

_I know you don't believe it, but I do. Know that I love you, Lass, and if you want, you and I can try to meet each other twice next month instead of just once, to make up for this month._

_I'm sorry, Lass._

_Love,_

_Arme"_

Though Arme wasn't entirely sure that this was one of the events detailed in the ancient book, one could never take too many chances. Arme herself was the one to put forth the request to be the one to put Thanatos down again. She was thinking of enlisting the help of the Elven Corps, Kanavan's most elite knights, and maybe even the new Silver Knights. Unfortunately, Arme could not ask the Silver Cross Assassins for help in this mission.

Folding the letter and sealing it in an envelope, Arme left her room and began to descend the stairs. Along the way down, a few mages in-training ran past, calling out a quick "Excuse me, ma'am!" Arme met a few more mages on her way to the Violet Mage Guild's stables.

As soon as Arme stepped in, the scent of fresh hay and various animals struck her. In front of her, the horses were kept. Higher up in the rafters was where the messenger birds were kept, along with other birds.

Before Arme could climb the ladder to the rafters, a voice called out behind her.

"E-Excuse me, ma'am, would you like me to send that letter for you?" Turning around, Arme faced a young mage, most likely recruited not-too-long ago.

Arme shook her head. "I can do it myself, but thank you. What is your name?"

"Sairen, ma'am," the young mage answered, curtsying.

"Well, Sairen, you do not need to worry yourself," Arme told her. "I can handle this myself." _And I don't trust anyone to not peek at this letter_, Arme thought to herself.

"I-If you are certain, ma'am."

"Be on your way now, you would do well to go to your next training session," Arme told the young mage, dismissing her with a flick of her hand. The young mage curtsied again before heading off to one of the buildings.

Impatient, Arme climbed up the ladder quickly, cursing slightly when one of the ribbons on her outfit caught on a nail. _I should remove these stupid ribbons from this outfit. What was I thinking?_

Arme whistled as she climbed past the last rung. She whistled three long notes, then two short notes to summon her favorite and most trusted bird.

Hearing the familiar squawk, the beautiful bird flew from its perch and onto Arme's outstretched hand. The bird, which nuzzled Arme gently as she brought the bird closer to her face, was a lovely cream color with a long, feathery red tail. Red tipped its wings.

"Sidtri, you're so beautiful," Arme cooed. The Sidtri chirped lightly in response. It was the only bird that Arme trusted the most, and the Sidtri was capable of defending itself, too. It was also trained to destroy the letter if there was a high chance that the letter would be lost to any assailant.

Arme held up the letter to the Sidtri and simply said, "Tonight." Taking the letter gently in its beak, the Sidtri nodded slightly before it spread its light wings and took off, flying out a large hole in the rafters, the entrance and exit to the rafters.

Between Arme and Sidtri, the word "tonight" meant only one thing; take this letter to Lass. Nothing else was needed.

The Sidtri was trained from birth, when it was just a Sidt, by both Lass and Arme. Though Lass had despised the bird, he put his hate aside just for Arme whenever training the Sidt. The Sidt despised Lass just as well, but it, too, put its hate aside just for Arme. It trained with Lass just to make Arme happy.

Arme left the stables and headed back to her room, hoping the letter would reach Lass safely.

The moon shined brightly upon the group of people that stood on the beach. Today was the day that they would leave to Xenia, Bermesiah's permanent neighbor, once more to take down the Ascendant God before he recovered too much.

"Is everyone here?" Arme asked softly, looking around.

"Kanvan's knights are here," a female responded. Arme recognized the red-headed Savior who spoke, one of Arme's first friends since she had joined Grand Chase. Arme noted the long, indigo hair of the Abyss Knight, Ronan, and the black hair of the Prime Knight and legendary hero, Sieghart.

"The Elven Corp's representative is here," another female responded. "No one else would come; they felt only I was needed." Arme looked around before finding the next female that spoke. She noted the long ears and golden-blonde hair of the Nova, the second of Arme's first friends since Grand Chase.

"Nature's representative is here as well," a male spoke. Arme chuckled softly to herself as she recognized the voice. The Vanquisher was serious, but he could still crack a joke or two. His orange hair shook with his head as he cried, "What? You _know_ I am!"

"We know, we know," Arme said, still chuckling.

"The Silver Knight's leader and Oracle is here!" a cheery female voice cried out. Arme immediately recognized that cheeriness, and she knew who would be with her. It was the pink-haired Starlet and the crimson-haired Rama. They were almost never seen apart from each other nowadays.

Painful, Arme realized that it was almost exactly Grand Chase as it was, that time ago. There was just one gap. . . Just one.

Talking a deep breath, Arme opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted. "The Silver Cross Assassin's leader is here."

Arme's heart seemed to leap when she heard that all-too-familiar voice. Turning around she saw no one, but just as she was about to turn back around, thinking that it was just her mind speaking, Arme was swept up into a quick but loving embrace.

Even with such a brief touch, Arme could recognize those strong but lithe arms, the roughness of the cloth, and the familiar warmth.

"L-Lass?" Arme managed to say.

"Reporting for duty," Lass answered.

"B-But. . ."

"How could I let something like _this_ go?" Lass explained. "I was offered the chance to go and was about to decline when our Sidtri flew to me with your letter. When I discovered you were definitely going to be there, I decided I had to go." Arme felt a comforting warmth in her that she hadn't felt in too long.

"I thought you said you didn't believe the book," Arme said softly.

"I don't. But I'll believe anything if it involves you," Lass told his Arme, a touch of affection in his voice. "It was all too easy to convince the Silver Cross Assassins to ignore the fact that there would be a Violet Mage going as well. Their pride is all-too-easy to swell." Lass added a slight chuckle.

Arme smiled at Lass before she turned to face the others.

"Grand Chase, reporting for duty!" she cried, and led the way to the crossing to Xenia.


End file.
